Beeping from BIOS

[Lebon14]

Hey guys. So, I got this problem moments ago.

A couple of days ago, I "overclocked" my RAM so it runs at what it was supposed to in factory. Yesterday, I installed my CPU fan which is working well. So, today, I was some pics on my PC and then, suddenly, my mobo speaker started to beep. So, I freaked out and rebooted to my Bios and loaded Fail-Safe defaults. Rebooted. All went good. All fans were running, CPU and GPU temp were A-OK. So, I rebooted again to set my settings back to what they were. Re-overclocked to factory settings my RAM, set my mobo to warn me if there's a fan fail, set CPU features, etc. Saved and rebooted. Started Firefox and went to Youtube. It started to beep again.

So, yeah, I went back and SURPRISE! Glitched POST image from Gigabyte and text and BIOS was garbled!! I was able to load Fail-Safe again and rebooted. Upon rebooting there were no garbled lines anymore.

Something's wrong... help?

EDIT

So, I stopped my PC and opened it to move a small plastic thingy (attached to CPU cooler) from touching the RAM and then it teared and read "Warranty Void If Removed". F*. Also, just changed a setting in BIOS where "Warn when fan fail". So, if it beeps again... that's gonna be it.

 

[gpost3]

You are playing around with overclocking too much. it is not a surprise that your system is unstable because of an overclock. In my experience RAM never overclocks well (maybe 5-10%) which yields you 0% performance advantage. Leave the RAM where it is and just over clock your CPU that's it.

 

[Lebon14]

^ Well, my RAM is supposed to clock at 1333MHz but my mobo downclocks it at 1066MHz... it ran fan without a hitch for a couple of days. I never overclock anything habitually. I just wanted my RAM to run at what it is supposed to run at.

 

[Jonathan_King]

You may try feathering the overclock in; don't try for the full 1333 MHz at first, go up gradually.

 

[TVeblen]

Most new motherboards allow you to "overclock" RAM by simply changing a bus multiplier. This is a single setting in BIOS, not multiple settings like a true overclock. You must have the "automatic overclock tuner" (or similar) set to AUTO to do this.

If you are attempting a true overclock you need to experiment with settings to find a stable one, as Jonathan says.

The other possibility is bad RAM. It runs stable at 1066 but craps out when you try and run it at the label speed.

What is the beep code being emitted? Most likely it is a RAM beep code, but it could be something else.

 

[Mike Connor]

Some Gigabyte boards have a problem with apparently random beeping anyway. If you set your Windows 7 power settings to maximum performance, this usually goes away.

You can also set the temperature warning ranges in BIOS slightly higher. This stops most apparently "random" beeps. You should not overdo it though, the audible warnings are there for good reason.

"Simple" overclocking of RAM is basically pointless and merely increases the risk of failure. If your RAM wont run at factory specified speeds, then it is possibly defective. Overclocking can also damage the RAM so that it then runs at even lower speeds.

Regards....Mike Connor

 

[Dave76]

Can you tell us the sequence of the beeps, long, short, how many before a pause and the sequence starts again.

There should be a beep code list in your motherboard manual.

 

[Lebon14]

You may try feathering the overclock in; don't try for the full 1333 MHz at first, go up gradually.

It's like... the next multiplier. 1066 is 8x, and 1333MHz is 10x.

Most new motherboards allow you to "overclock" RAM by simply changing a bus multiplier. This is a single setting in BIOS, not multiple settings like a true overclock. You must have the "automatic overclock tuner" (or similar) set to AUTO to do this.

If you are attempting a true overclock you need to experiment with settings to find a stable one, as Jonathan says.

The other possibility is bad RAM. It runs stable at 1066 but craps out when you try and run it at the label speed.

What is the beep code being emitted? Most likely it is a RAM beep code, but it could be something else.

I know what you mean by auto... it's set on that value by default.

Some Gigabyte boards have a problem with apparently random beeping anyway. If you set your Windows 7 power settings to maximum performance, this usually goes away.

You can also set the temperature warning ranges in BIOS slightly higher. This stops most apparently "random" beeps. You should not overdo it though, the audible warnings are there for good reason.

"Simple" overclocking of RAM is basically pointless and merely increases the risk of failure. If your RAM wont run at factory specified speeds, then it is possibly defective. Overclocking can also damage the RAM so that it then runs at even lower speeds.

Regards....Mike Connor

My Windows 7 Power settings are set to Max already. I actually disabled temperature warn for now though... Well, I was able to run my RAM, stable, for a couple of days no problems before last night.

Can you tell us the sequence of the beeps, long, short, how many before a pause and the sequence starts again.

There should be a beep code list in your motherboard manual.

There's a single short beep at POST. I remember that means "OK". When it happened, it was a mix of short beep and half beeps. And Windows was running perfectly stable.

For the "overclock", I asked the Gigabyte forum before going and do that. Here is the thread : X58A-UD3R downclocking RAM [Plz read!]

I did what they said and exactly changed to this :
Uncore : 20x
Memory Multiplier : x10
DRam Timing : Expert
And set each channel to 9-9-9-24
Of course, the voltage was already 1.5v

Anyway, as of now, there are no problems and memory is running at mobo default of 1066MHz.

 

[gpost3]

keep them all at default if you want stable system.

 

[Dave76]

It is possible to OC and get a stable system. Depends on your components, if you spend time testing, and research.

 

[TVeblen]

There's a single short beep at POST. I remember that means "OK". When it happened, it was a mix of short beep and half beeps.

When the motherboard beeps, listen for a pattern.
For instance, for an AMI BIOS one long beep followed by 3 short beeps, then repeating, is the beep code for "memory test failure".

Have you run memtest http://www.memtest.org the RAM?

 

[Lebon14]

I've learned something from a guy in a review on Newegg.ca... let me quote

Cons: This isn't really a con, but it is something to be aware of. By default I've noticed that most DDR3 doesn't run at it's advertised speed by default but rather that it is certified to run at those speeds. There are two ways to do this either via the the XMP profile (similar to EPP) or by manually setting the timings. I've done it both ways.

As you know, the memory controller is now on die for the Core i3/5/7 processors as well as AMD processors. This means that certain CPUs will handle certain speeds while others will not. The Core i7 can handle up to 1600 speeds without overclocking, while the Core i5 can handle up to 1333. There's a long and lengthly explanation as to why this is, but I won't go into it for now.
By using the XMP profile on the Core i7 I had no issues. On the Core i5 however I had to set the timings manually. I'm not sure why as it is 1333 memory which is within spec of the Core i5. However, setting the timings manaully works just fine. (continued below)

Other Thoughts: I later learned however that while the memory does indeed run faster when using XMP certain features of the CPU are disable such as TurboBoost. It's because of that I'm recommending that memory timings be set by hand. Now, also something to think about is that the difference in memory speeds in real world benchmarks (in other words, applications you will use every day) doesn't really make a whole lot of difference between using 1333 or 1600 especially if the timings are looser. Save some money and get this RAM. No reason to buy faster RAM when it's going to cost a lot more for very little gains (unless you are overclocking I supposed and the timings are SUPER tight). Take the money you'd spend on the extra RAM and get the better processor or video card or hard drive. You'll be glad you did!

In other words, i7 processors does NOT like Turbo Boost + RAM over 1066 together. Now that I think about it... I DID re-enabled Turbo Boost after installing my new CPU cooler but I clocked my RAM before that with no problems. The clock was stable and got no BSOD or anything in this time frame and I even played Portal 2 between the clock and the fan install. The beeps occured after the CPU fan was installed AND Turbo Boost re-enabled. Hmm...

 

[Dave76]

Ah, not so much...

RAM can be run at higher settings than the CPU default, the CPU integrated memory controller can be adjusted to handle this if needed.
It will depend on your motherboard/BIOS for all the features available.

The i5 and i7 default RAM at 1333MHz. XMP or manually changing the settings will get you above 1333MHz.

I'm running my i5 at 1600MHz with Turbo Boost, haven't had any problems.
Which doesn't mean that you or anybody else won't, best way to check your RAM is run Memtest86+ as TVeblen mentioned.

Check your settings with CPUZ.
Download CPUZ and post a snip of the CPU, Mainboard, Memory, and SPD tabs.

 

[Lebon14]

Anyway, I tried overclocking the RAM again and no beeps whatsoever. I guess I call it safe for now.

 

[Dave76]

Glad you got it sorted.

 

[Lebon14]

Hear who's coming back... Yes, they are back.

This time, I simply undid the overclock and reboot. Beeps still heard. It seem to be a mix of short and long beeps every 15sec to 1 minute interval. The OS is running and all without a BSOD or anything. Then, rebooted to load optimized defaults with SMART Monitoring enabled. It rebooted with a single short beep meaning all was fine. Btw, the beeps I hear are clearly different than the one heard at POST. They seem softer somehow but clearly audible.

Seem to be OK for now w/Optimized+SMART

 

[Dave76]

Here is the beep code list from your motherboard manual.
This should help to narrow down the problem, can you tell which beep code you were hearing?

Q: What do the beeps emitted during the POST mean?
A: The following Award BIOS beep code descriptions may help you identify possible computer problems.
(For reference only.)
1 short: System boots successfully
2 short: CMOS setting error
1 long, 1 short: Memory or motherboard error
1 long, 2 short: Monitor or graphics card error
1 long, 3 short: Keyboard error
1 long, 9 short: BIOS ROM error
Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error

 

[Lebon14]

The one at POST, is the "1 short beep". During operation... I tried to make a pattern but there wasn't.

 

[Dave76]

One of these maybe?

Continuous long beeps: Graphics card not inserted properly
Continuous short beeps: Power error